1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transportation management system, a transportation management method, a communication sheet, and a communication antenna, and more particularly to a transportation management system, a transportation management method, a communication sheet, and a communication antenna for achieving reliable reading of and/or writing on an information storage medium attached to one or more transported objects.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in a case of managing objects such as cargo being transported in and out through an entrance at a prescribed facility (e.g. factory), an operator at the facility identifies the transported object by looking for predetermined code information attached to the object and applying a hand scanner to a predetermined portion of the object. As another identification management system, the transported object may also be identified by installing a gate type identification management system (gate type identification management apparatus) at the entrance of the facility (e.g. factory). The identification management system (gate type identification management apparatus) may include, for example, a hand scanner, a communication apparatus, an antenna, and an identification apparatus. With the gate type identification management system (gate type identification management apparatus), a radio wave(s) is transmitted from the antenna of the communication apparatus to an information storage medium (including a resonant medium) attached to the transported object. In response to the transmitted radio wave(s), the information storage medium transmits a radio wave(s) to the communication apparatus; thereby allowing the identification management system (gate type identification management apparatus) to identify and manage the transported object (For example, see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 11-161885).
However, with the conventional identification management system, the operator using the hand scanner is required to look for the information storage medium attached to the object and apply the hand scanner to a correct portion of the information storage medium to which a read sensor is provided. This identification procedure adversely affected operational efficiency in a case, for example, where several objects are transported to the entrance at the same time.
Furthermore, in the conventional identification management system (identification management apparatus), the location of the information storage medium attached to the transported object and the area for transmitting/receiving radio waves with respect to the communication apparatus of the identification management system are difficult to identify, for example, when several objects (e.g. cargo) of various shapes are loaded onto a carrier (e.g. transportation carriage) or when the objects are transported as a bundle. This causes difficulty in the identification of the transported objects and adversely affects operations following this identification procedure.
Furthermore, even when the information storage medium cannot be identified due to malfunction (e.g. disconnection) of the antenna or the communication apparatus, the operator handling the transport of the cargo is unable to realize the operating state of the apparatuses for identifying the information storage medium. This prevents precise transportation of the cargo. Furthermore, in a case where the malfunctioned antenna and the communication apparatus are both included in a single apparatus, a large amount of time would be required for replacing the malfunctioned component, or in some cases the replacement or repair of the entire apparatus may be necessary. The cost for such replacement or repair is expensive. Furthermore, such replacement can neither be conducted quickly nor easily.